david_rox_sox
July 18th, 2008, 06:39 PM
Japan against South Korea is always something special.
Be it at national team level or at club level, matches between these two regional rivals are accompanied by an extra sense of occasion and pride.
The inaugural JOMO Cup All Star Soccer match featuring the professional leagues of the two Asian superpowers promises to be no different.
It will take place at the spiritual home of Japanese football, the National Stadium in Tokyo, on Saturday, August 2 (kick-off 6pm), and will involve squads of 18 players from the J.League and the K-League.
With so much talent on display, the evening will showcase the best of the two leagues in a friendly yet competitive environment.
As well as local pride and the JOMO Cup to play for, there is plenty more at stake with the two individual awards on offer.
The Most Valuable Player will receive prizemoney of 1 million yen from the Japan Energy Corporation, plus a Mercedes-Benz V350 Trend model, and the winner of the Fighting Spirit award will go home with a 500,000 yen bonus, also provided by the Japan Energy Corporation.
So the stage is set for an evening of football and festivity for the players and fans alike at the start of a new era of cooperation between the professional leagues of the cohosts of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
The J.League will be managed by Oswaldo Oliveira, who steered Kashima Antlers to the J1 championship on a dramatic final day of the 2007 season and was named Manager of the Year.
The Brazilian coach will have an abundance of riches to work with, as his squad of 18 -- finalised by a players' selection committee as opposed to fan voting -- includes several current national team stars as well as an explosive attacking trio of imports.
National team goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus) will captain the team, and will have J.League 2007 Best XI keeper Ryota Tsuzuki (Urawa Reds) as his back-up.
Of the five defenders, three of them were in the J.League Best XI last season -- Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), plus the Urawa Reds duo of Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Yuki Abe.
The other two defenders are national team captain Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F Marinos) and attacking left back Toru Araiba (Kashima Antlers).
Eight midfield players have been named, including a mainstay of the South Korea national team that reached the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup on home soil, Kim Nam Il (Vissel Kobe). Kim is a natural leader on the pitch with his experience, his reading of the game and his ability to control the flow of the play from his role in defesive midfield.
Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima Antlers), Koji Yamase (Yokohama F Marinos), Takahiro Futagawa (Gamba Osaka), 2007 Best XI selection Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata) and Mu Kanazaki (Oita Trinita) complete the midfield department.
Even in such distinguished company, perhaps the player who has caught the eye most this season is the youngest among them, 19-year-old Kanazaki.
The attacking midfielder with the extravagant skills has been a revelation in his second season in the top flight, not only scoring some spectacular goals but also creating others for his teammates.
He has proved to be a handful for any defence, and not even the reigning Asian club champions Urawa Reds could contain him in a recent league match which Oita won 2-0.
Kanazaki has the touch, the speed and the sense of adventure to light up any game, exactly the kind of qualities needed to win the MVP award.
In attack, the J.League has a cosmopolitan trio in Norway's Frode Johnsen (Nagoya Grampus), North Korea's Chong Tese (Kawasaki Frontale) and Brazilian ace Bare (Gamba Osaka).
Johnsen is the attacking spearhead of Nagoya, excellent in the air and a good finisher in the box; Chong is nicknamed "the Wayne Rooney of Korea" back home for his burly physique and aggressive running; and the free-scoring Bare leads the Gamba attack and was also named to the J.League Best XI last season.
The K-League, which has 14 clubs and originates from 1983, will be led by Asian football legend Cha Bum Kun, the manager of Suwon Samsung Bluewings since 2003.
Nicknamed "Cha Boom" for his cannonball shot during his playing days in the German Bundesliga, the former Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen forward was named Asia's Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics in 1999.
Cha's K-League captain comes from his Suwon club, veteran goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae, whose penalty shootout heroics at the 2002 FIFA World Cup earned him a place in the hearts of the nation.
At 35, Lee is the senior member of the squad. The youngest is 20-year-old midfielder Koh Myong Jin (FC Seoul), while the group also includes Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma playmaker Choi Sung Kuk, who had a brief spell with Kashiwa Reysol in 2005.
Not only will the new-look JOMO Cup provide spectators with the chance to compare and contrast the styles of the two leagues, it will also put many national team players under the spotlight before the September start of the final round of Asian qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
http://www.j-league.or.jp/eng/gamereport/00000019.html
Be it at national team level or at club level, matches between these two regional rivals are accompanied by an extra sense of occasion and pride.
The inaugural JOMO Cup All Star Soccer match featuring the professional leagues of the two Asian superpowers promises to be no different.
It will take place at the spiritual home of Japanese football, the National Stadium in Tokyo, on Saturday, August 2 (kick-off 6pm), and will involve squads of 18 players from the J.League and the K-League.
With so much talent on display, the evening will showcase the best of the two leagues in a friendly yet competitive environment.
As well as local pride and the JOMO Cup to play for, there is plenty more at stake with the two individual awards on offer.
The Most Valuable Player will receive prizemoney of 1 million yen from the Japan Energy Corporation, plus a Mercedes-Benz V350 Trend model, and the winner of the Fighting Spirit award will go home with a 500,000 yen bonus, also provided by the Japan Energy Corporation.
So the stage is set for an evening of football and festivity for the players and fans alike at the start of a new era of cooperation between the professional leagues of the cohosts of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
The J.League will be managed by Oswaldo Oliveira, who steered Kashima Antlers to the J1 championship on a dramatic final day of the 2007 season and was named Manager of the Year.
The Brazilian coach will have an abundance of riches to work with, as his squad of 18 -- finalised by a players' selection committee as opposed to fan voting -- includes several current national team stars as well as an explosive attacking trio of imports.
National team goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus) will captain the team, and will have J.League 2007 Best XI keeper Ryota Tsuzuki (Urawa Reds) as his back-up.
Of the five defenders, three of them were in the J.League Best XI last season -- Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), plus the Urawa Reds duo of Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Yuki Abe.
The other two defenders are national team captain Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F Marinos) and attacking left back Toru Araiba (Kashima Antlers).
Eight midfield players have been named, including a mainstay of the South Korea national team that reached the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup on home soil, Kim Nam Il (Vissel Kobe). Kim is a natural leader on the pitch with his experience, his reading of the game and his ability to control the flow of the play from his role in defesive midfield.
Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima Antlers), Koji Yamase (Yokohama F Marinos), Takahiro Futagawa (Gamba Osaka), 2007 Best XI selection Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata) and Mu Kanazaki (Oita Trinita) complete the midfield department.
Even in such distinguished company, perhaps the player who has caught the eye most this season is the youngest among them, 19-year-old Kanazaki.
The attacking midfielder with the extravagant skills has been a revelation in his second season in the top flight, not only scoring some spectacular goals but also creating others for his teammates.
He has proved to be a handful for any defence, and not even the reigning Asian club champions Urawa Reds could contain him in a recent league match which Oita won 2-0.
Kanazaki has the touch, the speed and the sense of adventure to light up any game, exactly the kind of qualities needed to win the MVP award.
In attack, the J.League has a cosmopolitan trio in Norway's Frode Johnsen (Nagoya Grampus), North Korea's Chong Tese (Kawasaki Frontale) and Brazilian ace Bare (Gamba Osaka).
Johnsen is the attacking spearhead of Nagoya, excellent in the air and a good finisher in the box; Chong is nicknamed "the Wayne Rooney of Korea" back home for his burly physique and aggressive running; and the free-scoring Bare leads the Gamba attack and was also named to the J.League Best XI last season.
The K-League, which has 14 clubs and originates from 1983, will be led by Asian football legend Cha Bum Kun, the manager of Suwon Samsung Bluewings since 2003.
Nicknamed "Cha Boom" for his cannonball shot during his playing days in the German Bundesliga, the former Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen forward was named Asia's Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics in 1999.
Cha's K-League captain comes from his Suwon club, veteran goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae, whose penalty shootout heroics at the 2002 FIFA World Cup earned him a place in the hearts of the nation.
At 35, Lee is the senior member of the squad. The youngest is 20-year-old midfielder Koh Myong Jin (FC Seoul), while the group also includes Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma playmaker Choi Sung Kuk, who had a brief spell with Kashiwa Reysol in 2005.
Not only will the new-look JOMO Cup provide spectators with the chance to compare and contrast the styles of the two leagues, it will also put many national team players under the spotlight before the September start of the final round of Asian qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
http://www.j-league.or.jp/eng/gamereport/00000019.html